Via Engadget, a dog collar that combines a GPS receiver and a cell phone. The collar can phone home with long/lat coordinates – with the right device on the other end, putting a dot on a map is trivial. Right now it’s way too bulky, but I’d imagine that a year or two down the line we may be able to put a similar unit on a large hawk or falcon. Many folks put two telemetry transmitters on their birds now – substituting a GPS/cell unit for one might make sense in some circumstances. Two critical considerations – battery life (always an issue) and density of cell towers. What might make sense here in the east (or across the Atlantic) might be foolish in the middle of Wyoming where the falcon is more likely to be eaten by a Goldie than it is to find cell service. There’s also the fair chase aspect – incorporating yet another gadget into an ancient practice. The question may never arise – my bit of technological prognostication may be off base – but if it does, I have to think that avoiding a plane rental (for an aerial search) may be a good thing. To illustrate the post (you may have noticed that I likes me some pitchurs) a falconer with bird and sighthound:
Dunhuang? What is the date (forgive me for my slow collection if it is in there)?
I’d use the fancy GPS if it were available I think– lost birds make me sick, and I’d rather beat the eagles to them!
I’ll send some Chinese stuff…
I couldn’t find a date – there’s precious little about the painting even in the book. I’ve got an email out to the British Museum asking for more info – keep your fingers crossed. Thanks for the pictures – they made my week!
Many thanks to Ms. Swift, the webmaster at the Intl. Dunhuang Project! The image is a detail from The Paradise of Bhaishajyaguru (the Buddha of healing) – dated to the 9th century – Tang. The British Museum’s entry is here and the IDP’s page is here. If you click the ‘large image’ link on the IDP site you can see more detail – our falconer is on the right margin of the piece, about halfway down. Yikes:
“On the right are scenes of the ‘six forms of violent death’, for example a hungry soul dragging somebody away as a punishment for hunting.”
Re punishment for hunting. Gary Snyder once wrote “Do not speak to a good hunter about what is forbidden by the Buddha”. I got him to autograph that quote!
Yet another reason to love Gary Snyder. “Working on the ’58 Willys Pickup” got me hooked, years ago…